


The Meeting

by miss_spontaneous_68



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23225416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_spontaneous_68/pseuds/miss_spontaneous_68
Summary: Y'all's remember when Kaz wanted to be sure his tie was straight as Inej's parents were making their way down the dock? Well, here's how I imagined their meeting.
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Kudos: 57





	The Meeting

She clasped her hand in his and immediately led him in tow with her down the dock.   
Kaz made his way down the pier in a daze.

He watched from afar, his heart aching as he found himself reminiscing of the times when his parents were happy and alive.  
He immediately felt self-conscious and uncomfortable when he felt her parents' gazes boring into him.  
Would they even like him? He doubted it.   
He admitted that he wants to please them. He wanted to prove that Inej meant more to him that he did to himself.  
He lifted a hand in offering to them. Inej's eyes widened.  
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he spoke as pleasantly as possible, firmly shaking Inej's father's hand, before hesitantly reaching out to her mother.   
"And, what is your name, lad?" Her father asked warily, staring a second longer than Kaz had hoped he would.   
"Kaz... Kaz Rietveld." His voice seemed transparent. 

Inej's father tenderly touched her arm. "Inej, honey, what happened to you? We were worried the slavers took you." Inej flinched. Her mother dropped against her father, knowing that he would support her. "They took you, didn't they?" Tears began to leak from her eyes and she buried her face deep into her husband's coat.   
"Then, how did you meet this young man?" Her father asked softly.  
"I had an indenture at one of the pleasure houses. Kaz paid off my indenture and freed me from them."  
"Thank you..." Inej's father smiled at him hesitantly.  
He nodded almost imperceptibly.  
Inej's mother swayed toward him, pulling him into her own embrace without question.  
Kaz's mouth tugged in concentration. He stiffened. Kaz attempted to control the shaking erupting in his hands. The veins were keen in his arms, straining. He felt sick in both mind and body.  
Inej's father eyed him suspiciously, pulling his wife back to his side, his eyes still set on Kaz's.   
He could not decide whether or not to trust Kaz. 'Reasonable,' Kaz told himself.  
He allowed his shoulders to relax. The rough textures of his voice scathed. "Why don't you join us for dinner?" 

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

"Is this your house?," her mother asked, turning to them in surprise.   
"I stay at my workplace. Only Inej has been staying here recently."   
Kaz rapped his leather-clad knuckles on the oakwood, leaning back on his cane to wait.  
"Why do you have a cane?" Inej's mother asked quietly. He slowly turned to her and gave her an honest answer. "I messed up my leg a couple of years ago jumping from a building..." She seemed to realize that he was not willing to share more.  
Wylan opened the door and gasped in surprise at the sight of them. "Goodness, Inej, are these your parents?!" She nodded happily and introduced Wylan.   
They stopped for a moment as if realizing that they'd forgotten to do something. They both turned to Kaz. "I believe we've forgotten to introduce ourselves." Her mother spoke first.   
"My name is Lily Ghafa."  
Kaz returned the gesture with a nod.   
"Adrik Ghafa."  
Wylan propped the door open wider to let them in. Kaz was the last to enter, behind Inej's father.   
Wylan pulled him off to the side and Kaz immediately swatted his hand away. "What do you want?" He grumbled, his eyes immediately losing their pleasant hue.   
"Did you find her parents? Did you bring them here?" He poked Wylan in the toe with his cane. Wylan stumbled and barely managed to catch himself against the doorframe. He attempted a glare at Kaz.  
Kaz gave a milder stare, smirking in satisfaction. "Dirtyhands does not receive presumptuous people lovingly..."  
He left without offering another word to Wylan; he found Inej standing beside her parents in the dining room.   
Jesper greeted them with as much vigor as Wylan and pulled chairs back for them to sit.   
Wylan and Jesper found their seats beside Kaz and began a conversation with her parents as Kaz sulked in his own world, staring off into the distance. They seemed to notice his detachment, directing their attention toward him.   
"So, Kaz...," her father started. "What do you do for a living?" Kaz's shoulders bunched. He answered calmly. "It is not something you would want to know." Inej glared at him as if to tell him to shut his mouth. She wasn't ready for them to know. She was worried that they would never trust her again.  
"I am the leader of the Dregs, a gang here in Ketterdam."  
"Kaz Brekker?," Her mother gasped in realization. "We've heard of you... But, I thought your family name was Rietveld?"   
"It is...," Kaz nodded. "I just haven't used it since...-" Both Wylan and Jesper were staring wide-eyed at him. "But-but, you never told us!" They objected.  
"Kaz Brekker always has his secrets...," he whispered softly to them with a coy smile, his eyes darkening to the shade of coffee.  
"So... So that means Inej...-" her mother didn't bother to finish. She turned to stare at her daughter. Her father bristled.   
"How can we know that we can trust you? Is there any way you can prove that to us?" Her mother asked softly, squeezing her hands tightly together.   
Kaz simply stared at her.  
Inej revealed a secret. "Mama, Kaz is the one who brought you here. He is the one who sent out search parties to find you so that we could see each other again."  
"But, I don't understand...," her father whispered. "Why would a monster like Kaz Brekker do this or anything at all for you?"   
Kaz stared at him emotionless. He turned to observe Kaz.   
Inej immediately objected. "Papa!"   
Adrik crossed his arms and turned to stare at Inej. "I suppose you're right. But, be careful around that young man."   
"He's right," Kaz interrupted, causing all three of them to turn to him. "I am a monster."  
"Kaz," Inej watched Kaz stood abruptly from the table, turning away to leave the room.  
"Papa, I cannot believe you just said that to him..." She stood to follow after him.  
"Inej, don't," Kaz whispered softly.

Inej followed him into the hall.   
He shrugged it off somberly and offered a wink.   
What are you gonna do? He seemed to say.  
Inej raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Since when did you wink, Kaz Brekker? In all of my time with the Dregs, I don't think I've ever seen you do that..."   
He winked at her again. She laughed.  
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, a beautiful smile. A blush was heating his cheeks. He was behaving uncharacteristically like someone else.   
Like his brother. This caused bile to rise in his throat as he suddenly, nervously, took a step back. She raised her eyebrows as her expression became concerned.  
"Kaz?" She asked. "Are you alright?"   
He shifted closer. "If I were to lie, I would say yes."  
"Inej..." He whispered softly. "I think I could kiss you..." He swallowed audibly.  
His voice caught her entirely off guard. He was completely unguarded.   
He pulled her into him before she could respond and his lips brushed hers. His mouth was warm and soft like dew on petals.   
He struggled to catch his breath. "Come with me," he whispered softly, taking her hand to lead her away.   
She felt something burning, aching in her chest and tried to comprehend the feeling. 

He led her outside to the dock. He laid his cane down beside himself, before gesturing for Inej to join him. They sat in silence for a long while, before Kaz extended his hand, now free of its leather-clad clothing.   
"Why couldn't you just tell me that you wanted me to stay?" Kaz ducked away, uncertain. "Would you still wait for me?"  
"Of course I would." Her hair was free from its braid.   
"I'll miss you, Wraith," he whispered softly, curling a long, crafty finger around a tendril of hair.   
He smelled like home; fresh sea and cinnamon, a woodsmoke smell.  
"Will your parents ever trust me?" He asked quietly, staring into her warm eyes.  
"In time, they will learn to... I'm sorry about my father..." His eyes were dark again like bitter coffee and his hair hung loose, shadowing his forehead. He released her quickly, extending his throbbing knee out before him.  
His hands were still shaking from kissing her.


End file.
